A Naruto Christmas
by XMidnightXWerewolfX
Summary: Our hero Naruto has a 'plan' before Christmas, but things don't turn out quite as expected at first. Then as he continues along his path he set he realizes that it was probably for the best.


**Naruto Christmas**

**It's already Naruto's favorite time of year, Christmas, but our hero's plans have gone a bit downhill! Read this amazing story you'll be glad you did!**

I smile. It is the best time of year already, Christmas! I look around to the white snow, the ornaments hung out side shops, and my smile grows wider. Just the aroma of Christmas makes my day; The smell of Snicker-doodles in the oven, pine trees in the home, the sound of snow crunching beneath your feet! It's just wonderful! I sprint forward, ready to celebrate at the greatest eatery in the world: Ichiraku's!

As I get close, I smell the aroma of ramen noodles being made in the shop and my mouth waters, savoring the incredible aroma. I see the shop in sight and I run faster kicking up a smokescreen of snow behind me. I screech to a halt in front of the shop and turn sharply inside. I sit down and Old Man Teuchi smiles at me. "Well, hello Naruto!" he says while shaking out the ramen. "Merry Christmas!"

I smile back at him. "Merry Christmas to you too, Teuchi!" I say. "How are you doing?"

Teuchi stirs the ramen broth and smiles at me. "I'm doing great, considering Christmas is in a week!" he says. "You would not believe how many people have been ordering my ramen recently. I guess they need something warm over the holidays!" He laughs to himself and goes back to making the ramen. "So, the usual?"

"Sure," I say. I look around the shop and something catches my attention. "Where's Ayame? Isn't she usually here by now?" I look around trying to find sign of Ayame but Teuchi shakes his head. "She's out with a boy she met the other day. He seemed nice enough so I let her have the day off with him." Teuchi nods to himself as though forgetting I'm here. "Yup, he was a good young man. What was his name again? Man my old age really gets to me sometimes… Taruka, Akura… something like that…"

"Uh… Teuchi?" I try to get his attention and he suddenly realizes I'm still in my seat.

"Oh, right," he says. "One large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet!" he goes to work on my ramen and I look out at the scene of Christmas outside. Every Christmas just warms my heart, just seeing everyone so happy and with their family and friends. This scene used to make me feel sad without real family or friends to be with, but then I had Iruka-Sensei, Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura, even Sasuke, and all the other friends I've made across The Leaf Village and I didn't feel so lonely anymore.

I enjoy the scene and Teuchi calls out, "Ramen up!" and puts my bowl of ramen on the table. I smile and snap apart my chopsticks.

"Thanks Teuchi!" I say and I start downing my ramen with a speed even Choji would be impressed at. When my bowl is clean of any edible substance I put it back down on the counter and say "Ahhhhh!" I grin and still hungry I say. "Another!"

Teuchi grins. "Already up Naruto!" He puts my new bowl onto the counter and I smile at his anticipation of my appetite. I down this one just as fast as the first, and I go on a ramen-murder-spree devouring bowl after bowl of ramen until there's a stack of 10 bowls on the counter. I lean back full and content enjoying the smells and feel of Christmas.

"You sure ate a lot today Naruto," he says laughing and tossing the bowls into the back to be washed later. He brushes his hands off and goes to cleaning the counter with his rag.

"I didn't have breakfast," I say. "Thanks for the ramen."I take out my wallet and lay down the money for the ramen plus a little extra as a Christmas bonus of sorts.

Teuchi takes the money and smiles at me. "Naruto thanks to you I am the richest ramen chef in the world!" He puts the money in his register and I smile back.

"You deserve it Teuchi, you make the best ramen out there!" I get up and brush the snow that blew inside off my shoulders. "Have a good day and a Merry Christmas!" I wave goodbye from the door and he waves back at me.

"You too, Naruto!" I close the door to keep in the warm air inside and head off into the snow. I walk down the street looking for a specific shop I saw the other day. I take my eyes off the road and scan the shops, but that is a mistake because I crash into someone almost immediately.

We slam foreheads and fall into the snow. "Ow!" I shout. "Crap! Hey, are you okay?" I rub my forehead and sit up to see who I ran into. She sits up herself and I realize who I ran into.

"Hey Hinata," I say. "Sorry I ran into you what are you doing around here?" I mentally kick myself. _"Duh!"_ I tell myself. _"She's here to pick up a present! God, I'm an idiot!"_

"It's okay, Naruto," she says. "I'm just here to take a walk." She sits up completely and does that poking thing with her fingers. She looks away from me as well and I frown.

"_Why does she look away from me like that?" _I ask myself. _"Is she ashamed to be seen around me? Hm… well maybe if I show her that I'm not a bad guy she'll be more comfortable around me!" _I stand up and hold my hand out to her to help her up. "Here" I say the intention obvious.

She takes my hand and as our hands makes contact she blushes heavily. I frown again, but I think nothing of it. After I show her a good time today she won't be embarrassed anymore! I haul Hinata up to her feet and smile at her. _"This works out for me perfectly at least."_

Hinata, still looking away from me, says. "I'm sorry I ran into you Naruto, I have to go." She starts to walk off, but I grab her arm.

"No, I can't let you walk off like that, it was my fault anyway, I have to make it up to you," I smile but Hinata blushes evermore deeply. "I'll take you out to lunch, how's that?"

Hinata blushes so red I think she's gonna pass out, but she manages to get out. "N-n-not h-hungry…" but her stomach betrays her as at that time it decided to let out a loud growl that could have been mistake for a bear roar.

"That's not what your stomach says," I say. "Come on, quit being modest and let me take you out to eat!" I smile at her and she finally caves.

"Okay, if you want to of course," the color in her face dies down a bit, but she is still a bright pink. I realize she had dropped a few things and went about to picking them up.

"So…" I say. "Where would you like to eat?" I finish collecting Hinata's things and keep them in my arms to be polite and carry her things.

"Um… well a good restaurant just opened up down the street," she says. "We could go there…"

"Sure," I say. "Why not?" We walk toward the new restaurant silently. I decide to try and break the silence with some conversation.

"So how is your Christmas going?" I ask. Just a normal question and typical question for this time of year.

"Well…" she says. "It's been okay so far. I got presents for everyone in the group…" She looks away from me and starts poking her fingers together again. "How about yours? Anything special going on?"

"Well I have gotten presents for almost everybody," I say. "Just one person left and I am going to look for that present later today." I grin at her and I can see the inkling of a smile. I'm getting closer!

"So who's it for?" she asks seemingly interested.

I look over and smile. "It's for someone really special," I say. After I say that she seems a bit let down as though I had told her I was getting a present for Orochimaru.

"_For someone really special?"_ she thinks to herself. _"I bet that's Sakura…"_ She tries to look upbeat, but the look she had before betrays her. I try to ignore it, but it keeps nagging the back of my mind, as though I should know why she has that look on her face.

Before I can decide whether or not to question her on it, she points to a small shop to the side. "That's it," she says. "Let's go in." We walk in the door and are immediately greeted by Ino in a waitress uniform. "Welcome to…" she just realizes who she's greeting and smiles at us.

"Oh hi Naruto, Hinata! What are you two doing here?" she asks. She puts her finger to her lip in an oh-my-god-gossip-time look. "Don't tell me! You two are on a date!"

Hinata and I immediately start freaking out at her claim. "No, No, No, No, No, No, No!" we both shout. "It's nothing like that! We just…!"

Ino cuts us off immediately. "Don't worry," she says. "I won't tell anybody about you 'secret love'!" she smiles at us and dances off to the counter probably fantasizing about us together in a relationship.

Hinata and I follow her, with her blushing red as a tomato, and me almost as deeply. Ino takes two menus and motions for us to follow her to a table. On our way there I notice a lot of couples are sitting at tables drinking out of big mugs of fancy hot chocolate. I really hope Hinata doesn't get the wrong idea… or more importantly nobody else sees us here. Thank god Ino said she wouldn't tell anybody, then again who says I can trust her?

She sits us down next to a window and waits for us to get settled. "So I have the perfect thing for you two lovebirds." At this point I really doubt I can convince Ino anything other than what is going on in her fantasies. Hinata is also glowing red, so I don't think she can talk to Ino herself so I decide to do the talking.

"Sure," I say rolling my eyes. "Go ahead."

Ino giggles and goes on about the lunch she's suggesting to us. "Well it starts out with a nice cu of hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, marshmallows… truth is I'm not really listening. I already had lunch and I'm not that hungry. This was mainly to make it up to Hinata, and Ino kinda ruined this.

"So how 'bout it?" she asks.

I just wave her off. "Sure," I say. "Why not?" Ino giggles again and walks off to the kitchen to place our order.

I look over to Hinata who seems to be calming and her blush is dying down a bit. "Sorry about that Hinata," I say. "I didn't know Ino would be here."

She shakes her head. "No, it's not your fault," she says. We looks out the window and smiles. "It's really pretty isn't it? Christmas, I mean."

I look out the window and nod. "Ya, it is…" I smile until something catches my eye. All the couples here are each drinking out of one romantic mug. This makes me jumpy and I get Hinata's attention.

"Uh… Hinata," I point over to the other couples in the room.

"Uh-oh," she says. "You don't think…" before she can finish her sentence Ino come back with the same drink the others are drinking. Hinata turns so red I think she's going to pass out and I'm not far from it either.

"Here you go, you two!" she says. "I'll be back with your main course in a bit, have fun!" Hinata shrinks back into her seat looking like she wants to die and I freeze in place not even sure what to do.

The drink does smell good, but I'm afraid that if I go to drink it Hinata may get the wrong message. Some of the other couples start to look at us wondering why we aren't drinking together and I can sense Ino staring into the back of my head waiting for us to drink it. I gulp down any sense of rational thought and start to drink it. Hinata seems to get to realize the onlookers as well drink it with me.

Some of the onlookers smile and go back to their meal and I hear an "Aw!" come from behind me that probably came from Ino. The drink is good, very chocolaty, and sweet. I try not to notice Hinata right in front of me drinking out of the same cup so I don't faint from embarrassment.

Hinata herself, is enjoying every moment of this, not to my knowledge of course. _"Oh my god,"_ she thinks. _"It actually feels like I'm on a date with Naruto! I'm so glad I picked this place, I didn't even know they had these!"_

Our drink is soon gone and we back away awkwardly. Hinata looks a bit disappointed, but I assume it's just a trick of the eye. It's silent at our table now, but that soon changes as I hear Ino walk out of the door with our food.

"Here you guys are!" she says. "Enjoy!" she places down a platter of self-cook pork, beef, and other foods that are all shaped like hearts. I seriously think Hinata slightly fainted when she saw them and that there is only one fork on the platter. Hoping that I don't have to have moment that may make Hinata feel uncomfortable, I push the platter toward her.

"It's okay," I say. "I'm not very hungry, go ahead." Hinata sighs half-heartedly, sounding kind of relieved, and kind of let-down. I once again shrug thinking I am just hearing her wrong.

While she cooks the meat I look at her happily. _"I'm still really glad I offered to do this," _I say. _"Even if Ino is here watching us like show dogs."_

Hinata leaves half the meat there, the entire plate being too much for anybody, but Choji. It's still silent at the table, so I strike up a conversation to keep this from being a complete waste of time.

"So Hinata," I say. "We really don't talk much, tell me about yourself."

"Well… um… I…" Hinata starts to stammer on, but I stay patient, waiting for her to answer. "There's really not much to tell… I like to press flowers…"

"Really?" I ask. "What kind of flowers do you have?" Hinata seems surprised that I am interested in her flower pressing.

"Well… I collect flowers all the time, from across The Land of Fire and other places, and press them," she says. "In fact I have my book of flower presses right here." She gestures to her bag she was carrying when I knocked her over. "I was coming back from the park when I ran into you."

"So you like flowers?" I ask.

Hinata nods her head. "Yes, I do," she says. "I think they're really beautiful…" she takes her book of flower presses out onto the table. "Each one is different, just like people, no two flowers are exactly alike." She starts to trace the pedals with her finger completely calm in the world around her.

"Me too," I say and she looks up at me. "I agree, they are a very unique thing in this world. Beautiful, unique, just completely wonderful…" I smile at Hinata and for the first time since I ran into her earlier she gives me a complete smile. I just realized this, but she had never really smiled at me before this day, I really like it.

I look out the window and examine the beauty of winter. It reminds me that there's no better time than right now to take a chance. "So Hinata," I say. "Could you do me a favor?"

Her smile turns into curiosity. "Sure," she says a little wary. "What is it?"

"I need your help finding my last present," I say. "I need your opinion on which one I should get."

"Sure," she says. "I could help with that."

I grin. "Okay," I say. "Let's get going." I take out Gama-chan and leave the money for our meal and motion for Hinata to get up. We pass Ino carrying our desert, a heart shaped chocolate cake, good thing I got us out of here Hinata definitely would have fainted with us eating _that _together!

"Where are you two going?" she asks unhappily. "Your desert just got finished!" she gets into an impatient stance, but we keep walking.

"We're done," I say. "Money is on the table, and have a Merry Christmas Ino! See you at the party!" We sprint out the door and Ino sighs.

"Aw… I really enjoyed this," then she giggles to herself. "I knew I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, but this is just too juicy to keep a secret! I need to get to Sakura fast!"

Hinata and I walk down the street looking for a specific shop I haven't even told her about yet. "So Naruto," she says. "Where are we going?"

"We're going somewhere very special," I say. "Don't worry you'll see." I continue to drag Hinata through the snow until we finally reach the place.

"Here it is," I say. "The Leaf Village Jewelry Shop!" I open the door and hear the little bell go off alerting the storeowner a costumer has arrived. She walks out of the back room and gives us a smile.

"Well, hello," she says. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a special Christmas present," I say. "I just need to look through some necklaces."

She nods. "Alright then," she says. "Let me know if I can be of help!" she stays put at the counter and watches us as we browse her inventory.

"Okay," I say. "I need you to tell me what you think of these necklaces." I go looking through some of the necklaces until I find one that I like. "Here we go." I motion to the lady at the counter and she comes over and unlocks the case so we may take a look.

She hands the necklace over to me and I hold it up to Hinata. A pure Silver chain with a Tanzanite gemstone pendant, even the storeowner is amazed by its' beauty. "What do you think? I ask.

Hinata is speechless. "I-it's beautiful…"

I hold it up around her neck and smile. "And it matches you eyes perfectly…" Hinata blushes heavily at my compliment.

I pull the necklace away and look to the storeowner. I whisper to her, "Put this in a nice case." She nods and takes the necklace away to find a case for it.

"So you really like that one?" I ask. "You think it will make a nice present?" I wait for a answer and she nods her head.

"Yeah," she says. "Any girl would love a necklace like that." She seems to be a little sad when saying that, but my mind seems to be playing games with me today so I brush it off.

"So Hinata," I say. "Are you looking forward to the Christmas party tonight?"

Hinata nods her head. "Yes, I am," she says. "It's in a few hours isn't it?"

I nod my head. "Yeah, it is," I say. "I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to their presents." The storeowner comes back with a nice box with the necklace inside. "Thanks you," I say and we walk out the door into the cold again. Hinata and I walk around for a bit until we reach the park.

"So what is that beautiful flower you told me about?" I ask.

Hinata shrugs. "I don't know," she says. "I had no idea what kind of flower it is, I just got it in my book, see?" she opens up her book and shows me the flower she pressed.

Really looking at the flower I'm extremely surprised. "Hinata, that's a rare Winter Lily," I say. "They only bloom around wintertime and last barely a week. You're really lucky to have come across one!"

"Really?" she asks. "I had no idea they were that rare…" she stares at the flower as though it is from outer space. "It's really beautiful. I'm glad I was able to find it," she looks up at her book and looks at me. "How did you know about the flower?" she asks. "I didn't even know."

I sigh. "Well I guess the secret's out," I say. "I really like plants and stuff. I find them really beautiful and comforting." I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. "Guess that makes me weird doesn't it?"

Hinata shakes her head and smiles. "No, not at all," she says. "It just makes you special." Then she whispers to herself. _"Even more than you already are."_

Hinata and continue to walk through to park until we reach the diner again and Hinata sighs unhappily. "Well I have to get going Naruto," she says. "I have to get ready for tonight's Christmas party."

"Ok," I say sadly myself. "I'll see you tonight." Hinata starts to walk away and I wave goodbye.

She waves back as I watch her walk into the white snow and out of sight.

Later that night I'm at the Christmas party with everyone and I'm looking for a specific someone. "Hinata," I say. She looks up and smiles at me.

"Hello Naruto," she says. "How is the party going?" I smile. She's so much more relaxed around me now. It's nice to hear her talk and see her smile.

"It's going good," I say. "I've given almost everyone their presents."

"So how did Sakura like her present?" she asks.

The questions takes me by surprise, but I answer. "She loved it," I say. "Sakura was always one for Scarves."

Hinata looks up confused. "Wait… I thought you got that necklace for Sakura?" she asks.

I shake my head, confused. "No, why would you think that?" I ask. "Speaking of presents…" I pull a small box out of my back pocket and hand it to Hinata. "Merry Christmas!"

She takes the small box a bit surprised, but opens it nonetheless. "Is this…?" she opens the box and find the exact same necklace she helped me pick out earlier that day. "This is…"

"The necklace," I say. "Like I said it's for someone special."

"Oh Naruto…" Hinata looks up at me and notices that above us is a mistletoe plant. _"Mistletoe…" _she thinks. Before she says anything else she leans forward and kisses me. Her action take me by surprise, but not unpleasantly I lean into the kiss and me stay there for god knows how long enjoying our stay under the mistletoe in the corner of the room.

We only pull apart to breathe and in our breathe Hinata manages to get out, ""Mistletoe..."

"I know…" I say and I pull her back into the kiss. Little do we know that behind us is a large group of our friends exchanging money for a bet they presumably placed…

"I knew it!" says Ino collecting her money from Sakura.

"Ino you pig, how did you know?" asks Sakura sporting her new scarf.

"I just did," Ino goes to counting her money as more of it changes hands. The money changes hands from Shino to Kiba, Sasuke to Shikamaru, Neji to Lee, Kankuro to Gaara, and Tenten to Temari. Looks like they all enjoy making my life a source of entertainment and money.


End file.
